I'm going to move from sunny southern California to the midwest for good in about 6 weeks, i'm taking my 99 with me. so far the most snow me and the 4Runner have seen was the frost up in Big Bear. i know the routine stuff such as new coolant, bleeding the brake lines, keeping the gas tank full, washer fluid, battery, etc., but what about structure and drivetran? do you guys have your undercarriage protected buy some sort of paint or spray liner treatment?

please chime in, i really need to know as much as i could get.

thanks.

 

not necessary on the modern Runners.....Rustproofing usually causes more harm than prevention.

 

Some may chime in and call me crazy, but I don't really go out of my way to prep my truck for winter. I live in central MA where we get decent winter weather, usually pretty cold and some snow, but as long as all maintenance is up to date you should be all set. You figure coolant is every 30k or so, at least for me, so assuming I am within that mileage I wouldn't change it simply because its winter time. Now if you are runnning straight water then obviously you need coolant for the winter. The best way to prevent rust up here is to try and wash your truck every few weeks and hit the underbody, hit a drive thru or just go to a drive up bay, I prefer the second. I more plan to keep myself healthy if something happens, a pair of boots, thermals, warm socks, jacket, hat, gloves and even a cheap 0 degree sleeping bag are all good insurance. And obviously a shovel, tow strap and scraper. If you are going way out in the woods then perhaps some food and some kind of fire starting device as well.

 

undercoat undercoat undercoat, I live a stones throw from the salty ocean and on top of that we see some pretty crazy winters here in canada, What i do each winter is the basic stuff (anitfreeze, bleed etc.) then i take a really good degreaser, lay under my truck with a scraper and sandpaper, I clean the bottom up the best i can gid rid of any surface rust etc. Then i Re-grease (were neccesary) I buy that spray-on rubberized undercoat about 4-5 cans of it and let er' go on the bottom of er'. After that I bring it into work and slap some oil-based undercoat to it with the spray gun.

 

Can't compare older Yotas to anything made past the mid '90s since they fixed most of the rust issues the '80s trucks did incur.

It does matter where you live and the drier the climate the less rust you have.

My '99 was originally a Cali truck but appears to have spent most of it's life in Colorado as I have almost zero rust underneath and the rust I do have is around the cheaper metal bolts and not on anything important so if your truck is ok now it won't really get worse out in the midwest but if they use salt out there (Colorado doesn't use it) a good undercarriage rinse within a few days after a snowstorm is recommended.

 

i do appreciate you input, seems like if i do my job cleaning it, the rust won't be a big issue. still, what would a typical under coating job run? both professionally done and DIY.

thanks.

 

Pressurewash the underside of the truck..and I mean GOOD. Get all the crud off. And go nuts with like 6 cans of fluid film.

 

Oil-based undercoat runs about 80$ CDN for the full meal deal, Inside the doors, rockers, hood, engine bay, underneath, cab corners etc., The spray-on DIY cans are 9.99 cdn, and like i said it takes about 4-5 cans to do a truck,